


He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

by hopedespite



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Because of hanahaki uuhhhh I think body horror is a thing here?, Eventual Identity Reveal at least, F/M, Hanahaki Disease, Identity Reveal, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Pining, Post-Episode: s03 Miracle Queen (The Battle of the Miraculous Part 2), Reverse Pines, Slow Burn, there will be a happy ending I swear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:28:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29275464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopedespite/pseuds/hopedespite
Summary: Chat Noir is in love with Ladybug.At least ... he used to be. And now, as Ladybug fears she's finally come to realize her own feelings too late, she'll find her luck has turned in more ways than one. In fact, the pining just might kill her.Or in which Ladybug's Miraculous luck has rebounded, leading her to catch a mysterious ailment that can only be healed when her unrequited love is resolved or returned.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 26
Kudos: 65





	He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

**Author's Note:**

> A friend in a Discord server mentioned how hanahaki was one of their favorite tropes, but I had never heard of it. Of course, once I finally looked it up, my plunnies started running wild because, ya know, angst.
> 
> Thank you to @sweaters-and-rainy-days and @Gigi_bug for beta reading!

Before today, Ladybug had never before felt such heart-wrenching grief.

After all, she wasn’t only mourning the state of her heart, but she was mourning her relationship with Chat Noir; mourning the way a wedge had been inexplicably driven between them — and it seemed to drive deeper every day.

By the time she and Chat Noir stood upon their usual beam of the Eiffel Tower, the moon above was casting solemn shadows and streams of light that seemed to flit across her vision and emphasize her uneasiness.

This charade of lightheartedness was exhausting.

Months had passed wherein she had waited for the sense of normalcy to return; for that sense of contented _rightness_ to return to their partnership. But, no matter how much she tried to pretend as though nothing was wrong — even going as far as to try enticing Chat Noir with a new barrage of her own puns — nothing worked.

Things were not the same and she didn’t know why.

While Chat himself hadn’t seemed to have changed very much — he continued with his puns, lighthearted banter, and the occasional praise regarding her gift for strategy — the distance between the two was both subtle and yet forceful enough that Ladybug found herself agonizing over the finer points of their daily ins-and-outs.

No more “M’lady.”

No more “Bugaboo.”

No more flirting, no more over-the-top compliments, more of the small details she had come to expect and cherish, no more…

When had she begun to take pleasure in the steady consistency of his advances, despite her continual rejection? When had she learned to take such solace in his affection and fervent desire to grow _closer, closer, closer_?

Oh, what she would give for a second chance on that candlelit rooftop. If he presented her with a rose now, she would —

Well, it didn’t matter what she would do now, did it? After all, there were no more roses, either. Not anymore.

What she needed to do was locate the source of the change and eliminate it, be it by apologizing, baking him a thousand macarons, or even flat-out arguing to relieve the tension.

She was Ladybug, after all, and she could find an alternative solution to any obstacle.

Except, maybe, tonight.

Tonight, Chat Noir had remained silent for the last few minutes, the reunion following their split patrol devoid of its usual fanfare and flirtation. Ladybug worked her jaw as she mustered whatever courage she could, her eyes continuing to scan the empty expanse below them.

“Hey, Chat?”

“Yes, Ladybug?”

She hesitated, attempting to school her facial expression into neutrality. She looked anywhere but at him.  
  
“Is everything okay?” she finally asked.  
  
“Sure it is, why?”

“Because … well, because I was just wondering,” she started, uncertainty creeping its way back into her voice. “W-why do you not call me ‘M’lady’ anymore?”

Silence.

She dared to peek up at him through her eyelashes, feeling increasingly crestfallen at the utter lack of expression on his face. Chat Noir was _never_ without expression. If anything, he delighted in being somewhat of an open book with her.

Or, at least, he used to.

“Because you’re not my lady,” he stated simply, his eyes pointedly fixed forward. “You made your feelings clear, and I continued to push you even when you said ‘no.’ I apologize for that. You’re not mine. Neither is your heart. I understand that and I want to respect your wishes.”

Ladybug quietly gasped, struggling to keep her composure. But just as she spun to face him and tell him that _yes_ , she was his lady, and _yes_ , her heart was his, so long as he’d have her —

“Besides. There’s someone else, now.”

Oh.  
  
Someone else.

_Someone else._

Well, that certainly explained the changes between them, then.

Despite the absolute stillness that had followed his words — the warm summer air stagnant with humidity that clung suffocatingly close — her inner world tilted. Something deep within the cavity of her chest seemed to fracture, and Ladybug swore she could feel the jagged cracks of heartbreak spread outward until there was only a fragment left to hold back the flood of emotion that threatened to engulf her.

“Someone else,” she echoed. “Well, I-I’m very happy to hear that, _Chaton_. C-Chat, I mean.” She nodded, forcing a smile that nearly brought bile to her throat. “I wish you both the best, then.”

“Thank you, Ladybug, that means a lot to me.” Chat still wouldn’t look at her. “Coming from you, I mean.”

“You know I’m always here for you, Chat.”

Oh God, she was going to fall apart. Or vomit. Or perhaps both if she didn’t get out of there _right now_. There was a gaping hole in her chest now that demanded to be filled; to only grow _closer, closer, closer_ to someone who had inevitably moved on.

Now he had given up. Now she was too late.

“Well, it’s getting late, and I… I need to go,” Ladybug said breathlessly, her voice hitching.

 _Hold it together,_ she begged herself inwardly.

Chat finally turned to face her, looking startled at her abrupt departure, but she couldn’t give him time to speak. Not now.

She had heard so little, and yet she couldn’t bear to hear anymore.

And so, stumbling slightly, she groped for the yo-yo at her waist and slung it to the nearest surface she could grapple to. As she swung away, she dared to glance back only once.

Chat stood dumbfounded on the beam, one hand stretched hesitantly out toward her.  
  


___________

By the time Marinette landed on her balcony, nothing in her body felt steady.

Her lower lip wobbled as she tugged breath after breath into her lungs with audible gasps. Her hands shook as she unlatched her skylight and fell haphazardly onto her bed.

“Spots off!” was all she managed to choke out before she collapsed and finally began to weep.

Clutching at the first pillow in her line of sight, Marinette hiccupped when she realized it was her oversized cat pillow and promptly tossed it aside. She stuffed her hands with her comforter, instead.

Finally, after several minutes of heavy sobs and Tikki’s failed attempts to console or coax the girl to sleep, Marinette’s crying was interrupted by a coughing fit.

Of course, she only chalked it up to her hasty return and relentless tears. She was just out of breath.

Nothing more.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading, and you can also find me on [Tumblr](https://writtenbyrain.tumblr.com/)!


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